W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1,096.7143.

GWW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Barclays raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

NYSE GWW opened at $1,118.06 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $52.92 billion, a PE ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.09. W.W. Grainger has a 52 week low of $893.99 and a 52 week high of $1,218.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,111.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,028.72.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.71 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. Research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,064.73, for a total value of $2,490,403.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,235 shares in the company, valued at $10,897,511.55. This trade represents a 18.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GWW. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1,462.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,071,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,081,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,237 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $721,202,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at about $518,958,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 34,269.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 435,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 434,199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 61.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,027,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,036,584,000 after acquiring an additional 389,589 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc (NYSE: GWW) is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger’s product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.